Cameron Wright scores four goals as BGSU hockey opened its season with an exciting 7-4 win against the Miami Redhawks on Sunday. The win gave head coach Ty Eigner his first collegiate victory.
“It doesn’t mean anything special because we beat Chris (Bergeron) and (former assistant coach) Barry (Schutte). That means zero,” Eigner said postgame. “It means a lot to get a win as a coach of Bowling Green. That means a ton to me.”
Player of the game: Cameron Wright, 4 Gs
Key stat: Head coach Ty Eigner earns his first career victory
The crisp October evening brought a stereotypical early-season game. There was a total of 61 shots allowed on the net and 11 goals that found twine; however, the first period was uneventful with both teams finding their legs in the opening 20 minutes.
“Curtis Carr said it on the bench, ‘It’s a coach’s dream. A good win with lots of teaching clips.’ And I reminded him, ‘Before you got here with the defense, we led the country in goals against,’” Eigner joked.
It was the second frame that started the offense spurt noted in the final score. Gordie Green was able to squeak a cross-body shot under the right pad of goaltender Eric Dop to give Miami the 1-0 lead.
In what would become a consistent theme this game, the Falcons responded well with two goals 2:40 apart. Both would come from the stick of the aforementioned Wright, scoring a pair of the eventual quadruple.
“It was a lucky day. When that second one went in off the defender’s stick I thought maybe it was my day,” Wright said.
Bowling Green would add two more at the start of the third period. Connor Ford broke in the brand new ‘A’ on his chest with a mini breakaway goal. Evan Dougherty potted home a rebound for his first collegiate goal to put the team up 4-1.
Both goals started with a skilled play from a defender, the former in Carson Musser and the latter in freshman T.J. Lloyd. The defense core for the Falcons pressured the Redhawks continuously, resulting in some self-inflicted wounds but some quality plays, as well.
“The times we got in trouble we turned the puck over at the blueline with numbers, as opposed to making a smart play,” Eigner said. “But I liked how aggressive we played. People wondered are we going to play as hard as we have in the past. I’m happy with how hard we played for sure.”
The line of Green, Casey Gilling and Karch Bachman was the only presence of offense for Miami. The trio combined for eight total points.
Wright would respond to each of their goals with a strike of his own. This is the second consecutive season a Falcon has scored a hat trick in the opening game of the season. Stephen Baylis scored three against Mercyhurst last year.
“Max Johnson made a great pass to me across the ice for the fourth one and obviously my third one, Will Cullen teed it up for me. It was perfect,” Wright said.
Despite the sloppy play at times, BGSU takes a non-conference win against an opponent in a powerful conference, something that could bode well for them come playoff time.
“It’s huge for us. The non-conference games were a big reason why we go to the tournament last year… Heading into the Ice Breaker next week is a good start for us,” Wright said.
BGSU will continue their non-conference schedule at the Huntington Center in Toledo with the Ice Breaker Tournament. The Falcons are slated to take on R.I.T Friday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m.
